True Valor
by TammoWoodsorel
Summary: Wisdom Tooth, a brilliant Changeling who's just begun his new life in Ponyville has been tasked to find the most powerful Pegasus in all Equestria and recruit them to a team called the Elite Guard. In order to do this, he must first find the Pegasus and then do all that is in his power in order to convince them to join the team. Will his wits be enough for him to make it through?
1. Chapter One-Pop Quiz

**Alright, here is the new story that I promised you guys. I hope that you enjoy it. Every one please appreciate the great cover art that has been given to me by none other than Pikachu913, the same person you made the last cover. Chapters for this story will not be as frequent as my last one but I will try to update it as frequently as I can. For all those who are just reading my writing for the first time, this story is a sequel to my first story "A Great Change" so it is recomended that you read that before you read this. One last thing before I begin this new story is that I need OCs! Please guys I am the worst when it comes to designing characters so i really need some ideas from you guys. Who knows? Your character might turn into a main character in the story. That's it from me for now. Enjoy chapter one!**  
**-Tammo Woodsorel**

**True Valor: Chapter One-Pop Quiz**  
**By: Tammo Woodsorel**

Wisdom tooth was enjoying yet another day at Sugarcube Corner, watching his mare friend as she gave cup cakes and milk shakes to all the ponies of Ponyville. He didn't really have a job there anymore but he liked to stick around and help out when they got really busy. The Cake twins loved him and he always enjoyed the snack breaks that they got. He turned his gaze to the window that he was seated beside. he was not looking at the scene displayed on the other side but at his own reflection. He no longer saw the form of a Changeling that he had grown up with. He had decided to leave that side of him behind him. Now he saw the black, dark-blue maned Pegasus that he had become after moving in with Pinkiepie. He quite liked his new life. It was simple, joyous, and always an adventure with Pinkiepie around. They had spent all of the previous day searching the mountain range beside Ponyville for her pet alligator only to find it under her kitchen sink. Wisdom Tooth chuckled at the memory.

A familiar voice addressed him, snapping him out of his daydreams, "What are you laughing at?"

Wisdom Tooth turned to see Pinkiepie, a light-pink earth pony with a dark pink main that was very curly, but she was covered from head to hoof with flour.

Wisdom Tooth couldn't help but smile as took a napkin and began to dab her face as he spoke, "Oh nothing really. I was just reminiscing of yesterday's quest for your lost pet."

She giggled as he wiped off her nose and said, "Well today we need to give him a bath. I can't remember what kind of icing I coated the inside of that drawer with but I can tell you that it does not smell good after spending a day covering an Alligator."

Wisdom Tooth was taken aback by this and asked, "Why in Equestria did you coat the innards of your drawer with icing?"

Pinkiepie took off her apron and tossed it onto an awaiting hook as she answered, "Because, silly, icing is good!" she giggled a bit and continued, "Come on, I need to take a bath first before we wash Gummy and one should always swim with a partner..."

Wisdom Tooth was very tempted to take her up on her offer but he had some very important business to discuss with the Cakes, "You go on ahead, I'll have to catch up. I must speak with Mr. and Mrs. Cake."

Pinkiepie just flashed a smile and hopped towards the door as she shouted behind her, "Okie dokie lokie! But you'd better hurry before I finish!"

Just as the door shut behind her, Mrs. Cake appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, "Is she gone?"

Wisdom Tooth nodded and Mrs. Cake ran to him very excitedly.

She was jumping with glee and stopped before taking out a notepad and asking, "Ok, so what flavor did you want it?"

Wisdom Tooth thought for a moment and said, "Well I'm confident that any flavor would do but she does rather enjoy bubble gum. Although, that would taste weird as a candy ring. What do you recommend, Mrs. Cake?"

Mrs. Cake answered very quickly, "Well our most popular flavor by far is water melon but Pinkie's favorite is cherry."

Wisdom Tooth thought about it and then answered, "Yes I think that cherry would work out quite nicely. You're sure that you'll be able to make it with the present inside?"

Mrs. Cake gave a mock salute and said, "Don't you underestimate me, Wiz. I've been doing this for a very long time."

Wisdom Tooth gave Mrs. Cake a thankful hug and spoke as he released, "Great and one more thing. Since I plan on leaving tomorrow, I was wondering if it would not be too much trouble for you to go and pick it up. I've already picked it out and paid for it, but I had to wait for them to engrave it."

Mrs. Cake began to walk back to the kitchen as she replied, "Not a problem, Wiz. I'll stop by and get it tomorrow. Good bye and good luck on your journey!"

Wisdom Tooth waved his good bye and took his leave.

* * *

Wisdom Tooth had walked to his house that he was sharing with Pinkiepie and stood on the front door step as he took a deep breath. He knew that Pinkiepie was going to ask him to stay a bit longer, but he knew that he had to get going on the assignment that Princess Celestia had given to him. He had been given the task of finding a Pegasus for this team that she was putting together. If all went as a planned, this would be the strongest Pegasus in all of Equestria and he would become a knight in Princess Celestia's Elite Guard. Wisdom Tooth would become a squire under him in order to train and become stronger. This team was going to enforce the law, put a stop to the growing crime rate, and find Captain Fear in order to finally punish him for all that he has done.  
Pinkiepie has not been looking forward to the day when he would be leaving on this mission but knew that he had to go. With one more deep breath, Wisdom Tooth opened the door and was met with steamers and balloons as well as a chorus of voices yelling surprise.

Wisdom Tooth had to blink a few times before seeing what was going on and was surprised to see that all of his friends were gathered in his house ans staring at him.

Wisdom Tooth could think of nothing else to say other than, "Well this is certainly a surprise... What's going on?"

Pinkiepie was next to him in an instant and she explained, "I know that you're leaving tomorrow so, instead of begging you to stay again, I decided to throw you a good bye party! Come on!"

without giving him a chance to thank her, he was being pushed into a crowd of awaiting ponies who quickly had him blindfolded with a stick in his hooves. He's played this game in this house so many times that he's gotten it down to a science. Judging by the distance he was shoved from the door and in what direction, he knew which way the piñata would be and how far away it was. He smiled, took a jump and a mighty swing, expecting to make contact. However, his stick never touched anything and he just landed with a thump on the floor.

He could hear Pinkiepie laugh and say, "Nice try! I moved it!"

This was met with laughter from the rest of the party. Wisdom Tooth took a moment to think. There was only one other spot in the main room that would be able to have a piñata tied to it since it was high and had a support beam running across. He spun around and leaped for another swing but was again disappointed to hit nothing but air.

This time, Dragonshy's voice was the one that he heard, "You'll have to do better than that, Wiz. The piñata is hung from the rafter in your bedroom... good luck getting to it."

Things were serious now. This was no longer a party game. Wisdom Tooth deduced that, for some reason, Pinkiepie was assisting Dragonshy in putting on a test of his skills. This probably had something to do with the fact that he was leaving and he knew that there would be obstacles. It only took him a moment to figure out what those obstacles were. He heard the slightest clink of metal-on-metal on the second floor. The sound was soft and did not vibrate very long, meaning that it was actually gold armor. Gold armor was the armor worn by the Royal Guard. Royal Guard always travel in groups of three unless joined by royalty. Wisdom Tooth decided that there would probably be no more than one group and that they were probably not accompanied by royalty. So that meant that there were three guards standing guard over his room, ready to knock him out to keep him from the piñata. It was not likely that all three were stationed outside his bedroom door. There was most likely one at the top of the stairs, waiting to ambush him as he flew up. There would be one outside the door, ready to catch him during the fight with the first one. Then the last one would be in the room as a last defense in case the other two failed to keep him out. He had gone through all this though within five seconds and was now ready to head up the stairs.

He took the stick in his mouth and launched himself into flight. He heard more armor clanking as the guard at the top of the stairs prepared for a fight. Wisdom Tooth was flying up the stairs sideways so that the long stick could fit between the walls. He knew how many stairs there were so, just before he made it to the top, he spun sideways so that the stick caught on the walls and transformed his forward momentum into circular motion. This allowed him to deliver a staggering kick under the chin of the unsuspecting guard. Wisdom Tooth knew that the guard would have been holding a spear and knew that the spear would only be held a certain way. He would have been holding it in a defensive position so it would fall to the left as he fell with the tip pointed toward the ceiling. Wisdom Tooth caught it and ran toward his room. He could hear the other guard heading a counter-charge. Wisdom Tooth forced the tip of his spear into the floor, allowing him to pull-vault over the guard and land on the other side. Wisdom Tooth quickly took the spear and dashed into the room. He shoved the spear in the crack between the door and the frame so that the guard would not be able to open it.

He took a step forward but was blasted back against the wall by a magic spell. This was particularly strange since the Royal Guard consisted primarily of Pegasi. The only magic-users were royalty. Wisdom Tooth quickly began to recall all the royalty and what they were doing presently. Princess Celestia went with Princess Luna to inspect the Changeling Capital and were not due to be back in Canterlot for another four days. Princess Cadance and Shining Armor were in the Crystal Kingdom and were required to maintain a presence there in order to keep the residents under control. Discord was terra-forming a barren wasteland that has been under drought for the last ten years so that it would be lush and plentiful. The only last bit of royalty that the guards would be able to travel with have to be none other than the newest princess added to the list... Twilight Sparkle. That made sense since she had been the only one that he did not remember seeing in the main room when he first entered.

He had only been thinking for a few moments so he took a bow and greeted the young alicorn, "Greetings, Princess Sparkle. I'm so glad you could make it to my fare well party."

Twilight answered with annoyance, "Oh stop it, Wiz. You know I hate being addressed like that."

Wisdom Tooth spoke as he tried to take another step forward, "And I don't appreciate being kept from my candy. You know how much I like sweets."

This time, he heard her charge the spell and deftly dodged it. Knowing that she would need a couple moments in order to charge her next one, he quickly spread his wings and let loose a small gust of wind underneath Twilight. He knew that she was still inexperienced when it came to flight and he was satisfied as he heard her stumble to the floor because she could not remain stable. He took this opportunity to fly to the bed and take a guess at where the piñata would be on the bed. He used his speed to smash it open in one hit. He threw off his blindfold in victory only to see a rather ticked-off Twilight standing at the foot of the bed.

Wisdom Tooth smiled shyly and said, "I'll give you a piece..."

* * *

Wisdom Tooth was joined on the stairs by Twilight Sparkle and the two Royal Guards as he chowed down on the candy from the piñata.

He tossed a piece to Pinkiepie and said, "This is one of your best batches so far, Sweetie."

Pinkiepie caught it in her mouth and spoke as she chewed it, "Glad you like it!"

Dragonshy turned to the other three on the stairs, "Did he take the blindfold off?"

Twilight shook her head, "No, he played fair."

One of the Royal Guards spoke for the both of them since the other one was massaging his lower jaw, "He kept it on, sir."

Dragonshy nodded his approval, "Alright, thanks again for your participation. You're dismissed but welcome to stay for the party."

Pinkiepie blew a horn and yelled, "Party!"

Everypony began to go about the party as if nothing had happened.

Wisdom Tooth walked up to Dragonshy, still munching on candy, and asked, "So what was all that about?"

Dragonshy took a piece of candy from Wisdom Tooth before he could pop it into his mouth before responding, "Well I wanted to make sure that you were still capable in order to go off on this mission that had been given to you by the Princess herself. I did the same for Lunar Knight and I plan to do the same for Rennie. I was afraid that the Ponyville life had made you soft. But I guess I had nothing to fear. Your deduction skills and ability to think through any situation are as strong as ever. Good luck on your mission, Wiz."

Wisdom Tooth found humor in the fact that Dragonshy had said that as if he were ordering him to have good luck on his mission.

He gave a quick salute and said, "Thank you, sir," he let his hoof fall and asked, "So, how are the foals?"

Dragonshy answered happily, "They're great! Rainbowdash is just itching for their wings to grow out a bit more so that she can get them in the air and Fluttershy is such a great mother. I couldn't be happier. The Cakes agreed to look after them while we were here so we could get a little break."

Wisdom Tooth dumped the last of the candy down his throat and tossed the piñata to the side before speaking again, "Well I'm happy for you, Dragon. You're lucky you don't have to go searching for your partner like the rest of us so that you can stay here and enjoy it. Speaking of which, how is Vinyl's training coming?"

Dragonshy rolled his eyes as he answered, "She's way too impatient. She keeps asking me how to become a dragon when she can't even change into a squirrel. She is completely shirking her flying lessons in order to practice transforming."

Wisdom Tooth smiled and said, "Well I'm sure you'll get through to her eventually. Where's Rennie? I don't remember seeing him here."

Dragonshy shrugged and said, "If I had to guess, I'd say he's at the forge with his clone. When I invited him, he said that he knew you'd come visit him before you left tomorrow."

Wisdom Tooth said, "Well he's right about that one but..."

He was interrupted by Pinkiepie yelling to him, "Hey, Sweetie! Look! Mistletoe!"

Sure enough, she was standing under some hanging mistletoe.

Wisdom Tooth laughed and yelled back, "It's not Hearth's Warming Eve!"

She play-pouted, "It doesn't have to be! Get over here!"

He got there and heard the voice of Spike say, "Alright hold on, let's get a picture for the two of you to have when you're apart. On the count of three... One... Two... Three!"

Wisdom Tooth and Pinkiepie kissed and Spike captured the moment with two quick shots from the camera. The rest of the evening was enjoyed by all. Everypony helped to clean up and took their leave sometime around midnight. Pinkiepie and Wisdom Tooth went to bed and Wisdom Tooth fell asleep quickly, satisfied that he was given the opportunity to say goodbye to all his friends before he left the next day.


	2. Chapter Two-The Journey Begins

**I'm sorry to keep putting these headers at the top of my chapters but there is just one thing that I need to clarify If you do have an OC submission, please send me a private message. There's no need to fill the review wall with submissions. Thank you. Now enjoy Chapter Two!**

**-Tammo Woodsorel**

**True Valor: Chapter Two-The Journey Begins**  
**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Wisdom Tooth awoke the next morning and was pleased as he smelt pancakes being made on the floor below. He turned over to confirm that his partner was indeed out of bed already. He laid in bed for a minute or so, thinking about nothing in particular. He quite enjoyed the nights when he was able to sleep since he suffered from a severe case of insomnia. In fact, Pinkipie also found it rather hard to sleep on most nights. That was one of the reasons that they went so well together since they were able to spend the night awake with each other when they would otherwise spend it alone.

This thought brought a frown to Wisdom Tooth's face. He knew what Pinkiepie must have felt like before he got there. She was a pony that hated being alone more than anything in the world. That what was why she could not stand it if there was somepony that was not her friend or that she didn't know the name of. That was why she threw welcome parties for every new pony in Ponyville, so that they would not have to go a single day without feeling like there was somepony there that liked them.

Wisdom Tooth knew this feeling. He had spent most of his life growing up in a cellar. In the area that he had grown up in, the Changelings thought that he was some sort of monster. So they left him in this cellar and would capture a Changeling every week to throw to him and he would have no other choice but to devour them in order to stay alive. He spent so much time alone that he had thought that he had grown used to it. It was not until he found friends that he realized how terrible it felt to be the only pony around with no where to go.

He knew that Pinkiepie was dreading the day that he left since she would once again be thrown into loop of loneliness. She would lie awake in her bed with nopony to talk to. It did not comfort her to know that he would also find it hard to live alone for even the shortest period of time.

Wisdom Tooth took a deep breath and forced himself out of bed. He shook himself to untangle all the hair that matted up when he had been laying on it. He opened the door to his bedroom and was greeted to even stronger scent of the pancakes. These were no ordinary pancakes. These were blueberry-chocolate chip pancakes that have been topped with strawberries, whipped cream, and sprinkles. Wisdom Tooth recalled a time when he would have dashed down the steps and pushed everything out of his way before devouring all the pancakes in one bite. That was how he used to be. That was before he had come to Ponyville and Pinkiepie had taught him to control his insanity.

* * *

Wisdom Tooth walked through the doorway, into the kitchen, and saw Pinkiepie sitting at the table as she stared out the window. She had a plate in front of her, piled high with pancakes, and there was a spot readied for him in the same manor. He walked over and nudged the seat so that he may sit in it. The sound of this actions seemed to have interrupt her thoughts. She blinked a few times and then greeted Wisdom Tooth with a smile.

Wisdom Tooth gestured to the food and said, "This an impressive breakfast that you've prepared."

Pinkiepie waved her hoof to dismiss the compliment, "Oh this? Gummy could have made it if he knew how to use a bowl."

They began eating and Wisdom Tooth, although happy to eating such sweet food, could not get over the tension that was keeping them both silent. He knew that she was upset that he was leaving but he did not know what to say in order to cheer her up. There was no way that he could wait any longer to leave, Zecora was growing impatient to see him.

After a long silence, Pinkiepie finally asked, "So... How do you like it?"

Wisdom Tooth swallowed the food that was in his mouth and answered, "It's wonderful, just the way I like it."

Wisdom Tooth noticed that she had somehow already finished her food and was now resting her head on her hoof as she spoke, "You know, you could have more breakfasts like this if you stayed a little longer..."

Wisdom Tooth sighed and said, "Pinkie, no matter how long I postpone my leaving, I will still have to go and it still needs to get done. It is better to get it out of the way now so that I can have all the time I want to spend with you after it's all over. Lunar Knight left just a few days after getting back in Ponyville. I need to go in order to encourage Rennie to go."

Pinkiepie began to draw circles in the tabletop with her other hoof as she spoke, "I know... I just don't want to be alone for so long. You don't even know where you'll be going or how long you'll be there."

Wisdom Tooth had forced himself to eat the rest of his food as she spoke and then dashed around the table to be next to her.

He took her hoof in his, brought his face close to hers, and said, "I promise I'll come back as soon as I am able. I will be lonely as well," he looked away for a moment to check the time then turned back and said, "I should get going now. Fare well for now, Pinkiepie."

They shared a kiss that was held longer than usual. They hugged and then he made his way to the door. He grabbed his wing guards and fastened them on as he left. As he walked away, he turned back just in time to see her wave her final good bye and close the door. He let out a heavy sigh, knowing that the hardest part had finally been completed. Now he just had to see Zecora then he could stop and see Rennie before he left. He checked to make sure that his wing guards were on properly and then took off for Zecora's hut.

* * *

Her hut was a bit difficult to get to since it was in the Everfree Forest but he eventually found it due to the chimney that was giving of smoke which was visible from above the tree line. He landed and was surprised to see the door open before he even knocked. On the other side of the door way stood a zebra with piercings and rings. She had a welcoming smile but a less than welcoming interior to her hut. Wisdom Tooth knew that this could be none other than the zebra that he was meant to come see. According to Celestia, Zecora's magic would be able to find a general location of the whereabouts of the strongest Pegasus in Equestria. Wisdom Tooth found this hard to believe since he could not help but notice that there was no horn on her head. He did not understand how she would be able to use magic as a seemingly earth-bound pony.

Nevertheless, he stepped into her hut and proceeded to a place for him to sit that had already been set up.

He took his seat and introduced himself, "Hello, Ms. Zecora. My name is Wisdom Tooth and I'm here for..."

She cut him off by putting her hoof in the air, urging him to be silent as she spoke instead, "Changeling of black and blue, I am aware of why the Princess sent you. You doubt my powers I know you do, but listen and you'll see that all I say is true."

Wisdom Tooth found the fact that she spoke in nothing but rhymes a bit weird but she seemed to be nice enough, so he shrugged his shoulders and asked, "Alright then, where might I find the Pegasus that I seek?"

She closed her eyes and seemed to go into a sort of trance. After a moment of silence, she suddenly awoke and began to walk around her hut. She was gathering different things that looked to be potion ingredients. After she was content with all that she could carry in her arm, she returned to the table at which they were seated. She put all of the ingredients into a bowl and began to pound them into a fine powder. Wisdom Tooth leaned in to get a closer look at the concoction but she seized the opportunity to pluck a hair from his mane and pound it into the mixture.

Wisdom Tooth sat back down and watched as she took the bowl of powder and tossed it into an awaiting cauldron that was being heated over a fire. There was a large puff a smoke that came forth from the brew as well as a flash of light which forced the two of them to cover their eyes momentarily.

When the smoke had risen to the ceiling, allowing him to see again, Wisdom Tooth gazed at the glowing mixture in the cauldron. He looked to Zecora and noticed that she was not looking at the mysterious liquid and was instead looking at the smoke as it rose. Wisdom Tooth looked at the smoke as well and, at first, he saw nothing. Then he began to notice that the smoke was creating symbols as it floated into the air. He glanced at Zecora once more and could clearly see that she was translating the symbols in her head. After a long while, the smoke cleared through the chimney and the liquid returned to water. Zecora sat back down across from Wisdom Tooth.

Wisdom Tooth broke the silence, "So... what did you see?"

Zecora inhaled deeply and responded, "I saw the pony that you seek, his life force is not strong but weak. He's not dead, though very close. But he's the one you need the most."

Wisdom Tooth was dumbfounded but continued to question her, "Well where is he?"

She rubbed her head to relieve herself of a headache and said, "You may find him under the kingdom of jewels. The place where love truly rules. In his life, he was known as Iron Side to all. He was famous and adored before the city had its fall."

Wisdom Tooth was getting a little annoyed with the way that she was answered his questions so vaguely, "You aren't giving me straight answers. Where is he?"

Zecora pointed to her door and said, "I've told you all I can, impatient one. No go and don't come back 'till you job is done."

Wisdom Tooth was surprised to see the door open by itself. He took his leave without saying good bye and the door shut behind him. Wisdom Tooth was annoyed that she could not just tell him where to go but found refuge in the realization of what she had said. The "kingdom of jewels where love truly rules" could only be the Crystal Empire. His own wit brought a smile to his face and he took off, satisfied.

* * *

He made his way to Sweetapple Acres and then flew a bit further in order to get to the forge that his friend worked at. He was obviously there since there was smoke coming from his chimney as well and he would never leave a fire unattended so close to the orchard. He landed in front of the forge only to find his clone tending to the fire. Rennie had given his stetson that the Apple family had given him to his clone so that ponies would be able to tell the two apart. Apple Bloom and her friends were jumping up and down on the bellows to keep the fire going.

Apple Bloom was the first to notice Wisdom Tooth and spoke in between jumps, "Hey there... Wiz, you lookin'... for rennie?"

Wisdom Tooth nodded as he stifled his laughter.

Sweetie Belle was the one who answered, also speaking in between jumps, "We're earning our... cutie marks in... black smithing and he... said we could help... He went to the... cellar to get some... metal to make us... Official Cutie Mark... Crusaders badges... whew..."

It was obvious that they were getting tired and Scootaloo finally spoke up, "Is the fire... burning yet?"

Rennie's clone laughed and said, "It's been going for a while. I just wanted to see how long you three would keep at it."

The trio slumped on top of the bellows to catch their breathes.

Wisdom Tooth laughed as well and said, "Well thanks for the help, best of luck to you... Crusaders!"

Wisdom Tooth made his way to the cellar to find Rennie at the desk, staring at three bars of different metal.

Wisdom Tooth peered over his shoulder and said, "If you're attempting to decide what to make the badges from, it's customary for these types of badges to be made from pewter as a cheap substitute for silver."

Rennie grabbed the dark pewter ingot from the desk and turned to address his friend, "Well that settles that. Good thing you showed up, I was considering actually using silver for them. So are you actually leaving this time?"

Wisdom Tooth nodded and said, "Yes, I finally pushed myself to say goodbye. I'll be boarding a train to the Crystal Empire this afternoon. But I wished to see you before I left since your presence at my fare well party escaped my notice."

Rennie shook his head, "Yeah I wasn't there, not much a fan of parties. Crystal Empire, huh? Nice place. I hear that Lunar was sent to Las Pegasus. Well best of luck to you, old friend. Make it back in once piece, alright?"

Wisdom Tooth took his friends outstretched hoof and said, "I'll do my best. Until next time..."

With that, Wisdom Tooth took off up the stairs and waved to the Cutie Mark Crusaders as he flew in the direction of the train station. He already had all the train schedules memorized so he knew that he would be able to purchase his ticket and then imediately board his train.

* * *

He did just that. After boarding the train, he got comfortable in his seat and relaxed as best he could. He always liked taking trains since a sleeping spell was cast on the ponies in side in order to make the trip go by a bit quicker. The trek from Ponyville to the Crystal Empire was a four-day one so he was going to enjoy four days of sleep, only interrupted by bathroom and eating breaks. He knew that he would have to enjoy it while it lasted since he knew that he would not be able to sleep when he got there. He'd grown acustom to sleeping with a mare in his arms and would not have that for a while. He did his best not to think about that and tried to imagine what the Pegasus he was searching for would turn out to be like. Wisdom Tooth found it odd that he would be searching for a Pegasus in the Crystal Empire. He had been under the impression that all the ponies there were earth ponies. Also, he could not wrap his mind around the line that Zecora had said about how the Pegasus had been famous before the city fell. It did not make much sense.

Wisdom Tooth could feel the spell being deployed and allowed it to work its magic to send him to sleep. He had a feeling that he was going to have to stay at the Crystal Empire longer than he had first been planning.


	3. Chapter Three-A Warm Welcome

**True Valor: Chapter Three-A Warm Welcome**  
**By: Tammo Woodsorel**

Wisdom Tooth found himself to be quite annoyed to be proven right. Since the Crystal Empire was the source of his energy, he had guessed that his own energy would rise as he got closer to it. Because this turned out to be a correct assumption, his energy overcame the sleep spell and he was forced to go through the next ten hours of the train ride while completely conscious. While this fact was irritating to him, it was not so bad that he would not be able to do it. Wisdom Tooth made his way to teh dining cart, which was free of the sleep spell, and took a seat at the bar.

The bar tender immediately noticed him and asked, "What'll ya have?"

Wisdom Tooth knew the answer but asked any way, "Do you carry club soda?"

It was the only alcoholic beverage that he actually enjoyed drinking but it was such a strong drink that nopony ever ordered it, which meant that nopony ever carried it.

The bar tender laughed as if Wisdom Tooth had been kidding and said, "That's a good one! So what'll ya have?"  
Wisdom Tooth just rested his head on his hoof and said, "Just get me a Peppermint Ale on the rocks... Stirred..."

The bar tender quickly made the requested drink and slid it to Wisdom Tooth's awaiting hoof. Wisdom Tooth found a seat at one of the booths in the cart and stared out the window as he took sips from his drink. It was times like these that he would pass the time by allowing his mind to wander. He glanced at his beverage and was reminded of the first time that Pinkiepie had introduced him to the sweet nectar.

Before he had met Pinkiepie, he would not order anything if the bar did not have club soda. The first time that he had been out to a bar with Pinkiepie, he asked the same question that he asks at every new bar that he goes to. The bartender had looked at Wisdom Tooth as if he were some kind of weirdo, which he was. Wisdom Tooth paid no mind to him, since he was used to that sort of reaction. The bar tender looked at Pinkiepie and she had just told him to get her the usual. He came back with the odd, multi-colored drink.

Wisdom Tooth had looked at her sipping the drink and commented, "I didn't take you for somepony that drinks."

She had put her glass down and said, "I don't normally. But how can I not drink a drink that looks so much like me?"

This comment struck Wisdom Tooth as rather odd since, after all, the beverage was white with red stripes.

Wisdom Tooth had cleared his throat and said, "Pinkie, that drink looks more like a melted candy cane with ice cubes floating about. I don't think it really captures your beauty."

Pinkiepie had just smiled ever so broadly and responded, "Of course not, silly. But watch when I do this!"

She began to rapidly stir her straw around in the mixture. She only did so for a moment and then held it out for him to see. To his surprise, the drink did actually look a bit like her. The white and red had mixed to become pink, foam had developed in a darker shade of pink as it floated on top of the liquid, and the ice cubes seemed as though they were there to complete the illusion by taking the form of the eyes.

* * *

The train hit a bump that snapped Wisdom Tooth back to reality. He looked at his drink and hadn't noticed that he had been stirring the drink as he was thinking. All he saw was Pinkiepie's face staring back at him. He downed the drink and went back to the sleeping cart. He knew that he was not going to be able to go back to sleep but he decided to sit in his seat and look out the window until he arrived at his destination.

After the ten hours were up, the train finally came to a stop. Wisdom Tooth jumped off the train and took a good look around. The city was more glorious than he had imagined. It was almost the exact opposite of the Changeling Capital that he had grown up in.  
He had gone into the city and went sight seeing for a while. It took about an hour for him to remember that he was supposed to be searching for a Pegasus. I quick glance around confirmed his previous assumption that all ponies that were from the Crystal Empire were, in fact, earth ponies. However, Dragonshy did see that there were plenty of tourists that were Pegasi. That mean that the Pegasus that he was looking for would not be from around the Crystal Empire.

Wisdom Tooth was about to take off in search of the Pegasus when he realized that he had no idea where to start looking. He took another look a round and there was one thing that caught his eye. The palace in the middle of the city was quite visible. Wisdom Tooth decided that it would be in his best interest to check in with Princess Cadance and Shining armor so that they might be able to assists him in his search.

Wisdom Tooth took off for the palace.

* * *

Once at the Palace, he was surprised to find that there were no guards at any of the entrances. As he walked through the palace, he found that there were no guards posted anywhere in the building and the tourists were allowed to roam free anywhere in the palace. Wisdom Tooth had been told that the palace in the Crystal Kingdom would be made open for all to see and admire but he had no idea that there was going to be absolutely no security. After thinking for a moment, Wisdom Tooth saw the reasoning behind their decision. The ponies of the Crystal Kingdom had such high regard and respect for the Princess that none of them would dare harm her or steal something from the palace. Also, all ponies that came to visit the Crystal Kingdom would have to pass through the barrier that was put up by Shining Armor himself. The barrier was designed to only Ponies with positive endeavors to enter. So there was really no need to have any sort of security.

Wisdom Tooth finally found the throne room and that's when he saw the first line of security. There were four guards stationed in front of the door. Two were marching back and forth while the other two stood on either side of the door. Wisdom Tooth knew that he out-ranked all of the guards that were and should be able to get into the throne room without any problem, but he was no so sure that the guards were aware of his ranking. Never the less, he decided to test out his authority and walked right up to the double doors. In an instant, he was surrounded by the four guards.

One of them spoke up, "None my enter the throne room without special permission from his or her highness."

Wisdom Tooth cleared his throat and said, "Stand down soldier! I am your commanding officer and I demand that you return to your post!"

The one that had spoke was visibly surprised by the response. He looked to the other two, who shrugged their shoulders in response.

He drew his spear back, saluted, and said, "My apologies... I hadn't recognized you, sir!"

Wisdom Tooth waved them away and said, "No matter! Now get back to your stations before I have your hide! I must speak with Princess Cadance on an urgent matter."

The four guards saluted and said, "Yes, Sir!" before returning to their former duties.

Wisdom Tooth felt good to finally be the one to give out the orders. He pushed his way through the double doors and into the throne room. He could see Princess Cadance sitting in a throne at the top of a flight of stairs. To his left was Shining Armor, standing at a table as he talked to another pony. The royal pair had been listening to whatever the pony was saying but all three stopped and looked at Wisdom Tooth as he entered.

The pony at the table seemed very upset by his presence since he marched up to Wisdom Tooth and began to yell at him, "What do you think you're doing in the throne room without a meeting?!"

Wisdom Tooth could tell by the hat that the pony was wearing that he was a general and he responded, "At ease, General. I'm..."

The pony was even angrier now and yelled again, "At ease?! At ease?! Just you do you think you're talking to, whelp?!"

This comment began to make Wisdom Tooth's blood rise but he remained calm, "I haven't the faintest idea who you might be, however, I should hope that you learn your place before your superior officer has to show it to you."

This comment caused the pony to step back and think. This allowed Wisdom Tooth a good look at him. He was a dark green pony with a blonde mane. He wore a militia jacket and hat with the proper emblems to designate him as general. His cutie mark was a picture of a military helmet, wrapped in bared wire.

The General seemed to settle down a little, "Alright, you've got my attention. State your name, rank, and business with the Princess."

Wisdom Tooth stepped forward and said, "Although I am under no obligation to respond to you, I do feel the need to introduce myself to the Princess," he turned to Princess Cadance, bowed, and continued, "I apologize for the fact that you had to see that little argument, Princess. Allow me to introduce myself," he stood up at this point, "We have met before, although briefly. My name is Wisdom Tooth, Squire in the Elite Guard. I just got here and was hoping that you'd be able to assists me in my search for my knight."  
Princess Cadance was a bit flustered after seeing to ponies nearly kill each other but responded as calmly as she could, "Yes, Wisdom Tooth, I do remember you. I had not been informed that you would be coming here for your search. I would have prepared a welcoming for you."

Wisdom Tooth just shook his head and said, "Not necessary. I found my way here just fine. Although there are just two things that I need."

Princess Cadance nodded and said, "What is it? We'll do our best to accommodate your needs."

Wisdom Tooth said, "Well I will need a place to stay since I expect to spend a fair bit of time in your lovely city."

Princess Cadance thought for a moment and said, "Well I suppose you may use the ambassador suite in the palace. That should keep you comfortable until your mission is completed."

Wisdom Tooth bowed again and said, "Thank you, Princess..."

She interrupted him, "Oh, please call me Cadance."

Wisdom Tooth tried again, "Thank you, Cadance. The second thing I will need is information. I suppose I will need access to your archives as well as a historian to assists me in my research."

Princess Cadance happily said, "Well, if time is of the essence, I can arrange for to meet or historian outside of the archives at noon tomorrow. Now, would you like to be shown to your room?"

Wisdom Tooth shook his head and said, "No, thank you. I'll find it."

Princess Cadance waved goodbye and said, "Well best of luck to you on your mission, Squire."

As he was leaving, his way was blocked by the general from earlier.

Before he could say anything, Shining Armor spun him around and spoke to him in a hushed tone so that Princess Cadance could not hear, "Listen, I remember you. You're that insane Changeling that I saved from starving to death. I understand that you are a higher rank than my general here but if you ever disrespect him like that again, your mission might not run so smoothly."  
Wisdom Tooth tried to explain himself, "I understand that you might have received the wrong..."

Shining Armor cut him off, "I don't need any of that. Just tell me if I have made myself clear to you."

Wisdom Tooth saw no point in arguing, "Crystal, Sir."

The two ponies left Wisdom Tooth at the door. Wisdom Tooth took his leave rather quickly. He had never seen that side of Shining Armor before. Shining Armor was made out to be a very nice Commander and Chief but, at that moment, he was scary. Wisdom Tooth decided that he did not want to do anything that might land him on his bad side.

Wisdom Tooth looked at the time. He had another twenty-one hours before he was to meet the historian at the archives. He decided to pass the time by doing some more sight seeing. He also kept in mind that he would need to keep an eye out for a bar that stays open late since he was going to be staying there for a while.


	4. Chapter Four-Wake Up Call

**True Valor: Chapter Four-Wake Up Call**  
**By: Tammo Woodsorel**

By The time that Wisdom Tooth had finally finished seeing all the sights that there were to see, it was only ten o'clock at night. He looked to the clock tower and groaned. He could feel the energy inside of him because of his close proximity to its source and he knew that this would absolutely keep him from sleeping. But, he was going to give it a try anyways.

He made his way to the Ambassador suite that had his name to the left of the door. He opened the door and entered it for the first time. It was a very large room with a very large bed. There was a dresser against the left wall and a book case along the right wall. In the back of the room, there was a door which he assumed was the door to the bathroom. Just to the right of that, was a doorway that led to an outside balcony.

Wisdom Tooth threw his wing guards onto the chair beside the book case and jumped onto the bed. He closed his eyes and relaxed. He laid there for twenty minutes, completely motionless. After the twenty minutes, he gave up and jumped from the bed. He walked over to the book case and began to sift through the books that were available. Wisdom Tooth was no stranger to passing the time by reading books but he found it to be quite a boring pass time. He normally would force himself to read at least one book, if he was unable to get to sleep otherwise. He finally chose a book that was on the history of the Crystal Kingdom, hoping that it would help him in his research.

He soon realized that the book that he had found was not a book on the history of the Crystal Empire. It was actually a book of the general history of Equestria. It was a text book that ponies would use in the local school. There was nothing in there that he did not already know since he had already read the book before. Wisdom Tooth decided to continue reading since he knew that he would not be able to bring himself to pick up another book. He spent the rest of the night reading the book as well as adding in his own foot notes and corrections. He thought that it might be helpful of him to do this and then donate it to the local school so that a young foal may learn from it.

When he finally finished adding in his own edits to the book, it was about nine o'clock in the morning. Wisdom Tooth figured that the historian that he was going to meet would probably be a school teacher seeing as they were not able to see him during a week day. Historians do not normally have a full schedule and would have been able to meet with him right away. Since they were not available until the next day, when there would be no school, they must be a teacher. It was the only other job that a historian would be able to have without having to learn anything new. So Wisdom Tooth figured that he would be able to give the book that he wrote in to the historian when he met them. It was still three hours before he was to meet them at the archives.

* * *

Although he did not need to, Wisdom Tooth had grown accustom to eating three meals a day. He knew that he would have to do without at some point but he would rather enjoy the luxury when he had the chance. Wisdom Tooth was aware of the fact that since he was a guest in the ambassador suite, he was entitled to four square meals a day in the dining hall. Wisdom Tooth had taken the time to memorize the layout of the castle before his trip so he was able to find it with ease. He opened the doors to find the royal couple enjoying a breakfast. Wisdom Tooth took his seat at an open spot at the table. He was promptly served a meager breakfast of eggs and toast.

Noticing him take a seat at the table, Princess Cadance greeted him, "Good morning, Wisdom Tooth. Did you sleep well?"

Wisdom Tooth knew that Shining Armor did not want to hear him complain about how he was unable to sleep, "Oh yes, your highness. I found the room to be quite comfortable. I trust you had a pleasant rest as well?"

Shining Armor gave Wisdom Tooth a look of confusion as Princess Cadance answered, "Actually I have not been sleeping well lately. Since the train tracks has been fixed, all I hear is them coming and going every hour."

Wisdom Tooth thought for a moment. The train station was actually a fair distance away from the castle itself and he had not heard any trains go by even though his room was slightly lower and on the same side as the train station. There was no way that she was hearing them loud enough to keep her awake while he had heard nothing.

Wisdom Tooth began to attempt to piece it all together, "Might I ask when you started hearing the trains?"

Princess Cadance seemed a little surprised that he was asking about something so trivial, "Oh well... Like I said, just a week after the train tracks were finished."

Wisdom Tooth stated, "Then, if I may be so bold, I'd like to say that it could not have been the trains that you heard since the first trains to that station were just a couple of days after the tracks were fixed. Also the train schedule is not so frequent that there are trains going at every hour," After stopping to think he asked, "Did you begin hearing the trains after your grand welcoming ceremony?"

Shining Armor and Princess Cadance exchanged surprised glances and she answered, "Yes, as a matter of fact. It was that very night."

Wisdom Tooth inhaled the last of his food and asked, "Might I see your room? I think I can help you sleep."

Princess Cadance looked to Shining Armor and he just shrugged. They lead Wisdom Tooth up to their bedroom.

* * *

Wisdom Tooth looked at the clock on the wall and said, "Not a moment too soon. It's just about ten o'clock."

Shining Armor asked, "Why does that matter?"

Wisdom Tooth answered, "Well clocks will make a chime every hour on the hour."

Shining Armor seemed a bit annoyed and said, "I know that but..."

He was cut off by the sound of a train. It was coming from outside the balcony. Wisdom Tooth hurried over to the balcony and saw nothing, at first. Then he noticed that the noise was not coming from the direction of the train station. It was coming from above him. He looked up and saw a very nice clock mounted above the door way. It had a miniature train going in and out of the innards of the clock and was making the noise that they were hearing. Wisdom Tooth flew up and got it down.

He brought it to them for their inspection and said, "I believe that this has been the cause of your insomnia, Ma'am."

Princess Cadance watched as Shining Armor took the clock and took the key off the back so it would not work before saying, "Well that's very impressive, Wisdom..."

Wisdom Tooth took a chance and interrupted her, "Pardon me, your majesty. But I'd like for my friends to call me Wiz."

Princess Cadance answered, "Only if you call me Cadance, Wiz," she then continued her previous sentence, "I'm just astonished that we had not figured that out."

Wisdom Tooth decided to defend her pride rather than allowed her to praise him more, "It's perfectly understandable, Cadance. You must have received the clock as a gift and didn't think twice of it when you put it up. You hadn't known that it made those sounds and those sounds came from outside. Since you don't spend any time in your room apart from sleeping, it was doubtful that you would have ever noticed."  
Shining Armor placed the clock on the desk he was next to and said with a smile, "Well thanks for your help. I'm sure we'll sleep much better tonight. Now, if you'll excuse us, there is a meeting that we have to get to."

Wisdom Tooth returned his smile, "Of course. I am also due for a meeting. Until next time!"

He bid farewell as he left the room. He was quite happy with that whole ordeal. It was apparent that, unfortunately, how he acted on his previous encounter with Shining Armor was reflected poorly on his personality. He was glad that he had been given the chance to show Shining Armor the pony that he had become.

* * *

Wisdom Tooth still had another two hours to burn before he was to meet at the archives. He figured that he would just go and wait it out. Wisdom Tooth was obviously no stranger to spending time on nothing in particular. Sometimes he would get lucky and fall asleep without realizing it. He stopped by his room and grabbed the book before proceeding to the archives.

Once there, he sat on a near by bench and just gazed at the scene before him. The archives were placed in the very center of the city, just under the Palace. He was able to see many ponies as they walked by and enjoyed the time that he was able to observe the people of this city. It reminded him of something that Pinkiepie had shown him to do when she was bored. They would go and sit in the park until something interesting happened. This would normally result in somepony asking them to help with some sort of chore but Pinkiepie always had some way of making it fun.

It was some time later, when Wisdom Tooth was reminiscing of some times that he had spent doing random activities with Pinkiepie, when he was startled back to reality by a pleasant-looking mare. She was brown with a blonde mane and she wore some thin glasses on her nose.

She cleared her throat and asked, "Excuse me but are you, Wisdom Tooth?"

Wisdom Tooth nodded and said, "Oh great, I'd like to get started as soon as possible! It's not every day that I am given permission to go into the city's archives. Oh I'm sorry. I am Brooke Keeper."

Wisdom Tooth jumped off the bench and said, "My apologies, Miss Keeper. I had gotten here early and must have dosed off."

She smiled warmly and said, "Not a problem Mister..."

She stopped after noticing the text book that had been on the bench next to where Wisdom Tooth was seated and asked, "What is that doing here?"

Wisdom Tooth had forgotten about the book and said, "Oh yes. I had found that in the castle last night and thought that I would give to you so that you may give it to some young foal."

She took the book in her hoof and said, "Well that's very thoughtful of you but we have enough books for all the foals at the school."

Wisdom Tooth responded as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Well I thought that this one might be of more use to somepony than the others. You see I went through and added notes to the book in order to help whoever reads it to better understand the material."

Brooke Keeper began to flip through the text book and said in surprise, "Oh my! Well this certainly should be helpful. Wherever did you find the time to do this?"

Wisdom Tooth just shrugged and said, "Let's just say that it's a passion of mine."

She put the book into her saddlebag and said, "Well thank you very much Mister Tooth. Now, shall we get going?"

With that, the two of them went into the Archives.

* * *

They went down a long stairwell and continued down a long hallway. After a while, they reached a doorway that had a soldier of the royal guard waiting there.

It was an orange Pegasus with a blue mane and he addressed them as soon as he noticed them, "Name and purpose?"

Brooke was slightly shaken by his sudden speech but Wisdom Tooth answered calmly, "Wisdom Tooth. I'm here for an investigation on behalf of Princess Celestia."

The Pegasus nodded and opened the door for them before saying, "I've been given instructions to watch you as you do your research. Anything that you wish to read must be cleared by me before you do so."

Wisdom Tooth looked at him and questioned, "Will you really keep me from reading something for fear of what it may contain?"

The Pegasus shrugged as he took off his helmet and tucked it under his wing, "Na... I was just told to say that. You seem good enough. Just let me know if you need anything."

Wisdom Tooth smiled and said, "Might I ask your name? I'd like to put in a good word for you."

The Pegasus smiled back and said, "The name's Flash Sentry. I was just entered into the royal guard. I know you're high in rank so a good word from you would mean a lot."

Wisdom Tooth nodded and then joined Brooke Keeper with Flash Sentry following just behind him.

Brooke Keeper began to write on a piece of paper, "Alright. First I need you to tell me exactly what this Zecora character said to you so that we can figure it out piece by piece."

Wisdom Tooth thought back to the odd conversation that he had with the zebra and said, "I saw the pony that you seek, his life force is not strong but weak. He's not dead, though very close. But he's the one you need the most. You may find him under the kingdom of jewels. The place where love truly rules. In his life, he was known as Iron Side to all. He was famous and adored before the city had its fall."

Brooke Pondered this for a moment and then began to cross off phrases, "Well you obviously figured out most of this already. We can take out these lines since we know that it is indeed talking about the Crystal Empire. The line that we need to focus on is, 'In his life, he was known as Iron Side to all. he was famous and adored before the city had its fall.' The city's fall is no doubt the rise of King Sombra but how can you get the help of somepony who lived even before then? They'd have to be dead by now."

Wisdom Tooth shook his head, "That's not important. Who is he? Have you heard of him?"

Brooke Keeper shook her head and Flash Sentry spoke up, "You guys really don't know who Iron Side is? He was one of the original Royal Guard and he was the one that designed the armor that I'm wearing now. Although his armor is said to have been especially designed for him since his wings were much bigger than most Pegasi."

Brooke Keeper said, "Of course! You're right! I remember the name now. Iron Side was a Pegasus that was sent from Cloudsdale to help with the games. He stayed here to fight off the evils that live in the snow surrounding the city and started the Royal Guard."

Wisdom Tooth sat back and took in all the new information that was being presented to him and said, "Alright. Now that we know who he is, we need to know where to find him."

The stared at the paper for a long time before Wisdom Tooth finally said, "Of course! Look here. It says 'under the kingdom of jewels' not 'in the kingdom of jewels'. Is there anything below the city?"

Brooke began to walk up and down the floor saying, "Not that I know of. but if he has been down there since his time then this would be the perfect place to..."

She stopped and grabbed something off of the shelf in front of her.

She brought it and unrolled it onto the table that they were all at as she said, "This is an ancient map of the city. Look here. There are tunnels that go underneath the entire city and it looks like they are some type of dungeons. It also seems as though the only entrance is in the throne room of the palace."

Flash Sentry commented, "Well you'll need special permission to look down there if that's true."

Wisdom Tooth grabbed the map and said, "Well then let's get going!"

The three of them took off for the stairs that lead out. Wisdom Tooth was eager to get this search under way.


	5. Chapter Five-The Reveal

**True Valor: Chapter Five-The Reveal**  
**By: Tammo Woodsorel**

The trio hurried themselves back to the palace. According to the map, the entrance to the caves underneath the city was located in the throne room. They would need to have permission from the royal couple if they were going to try to do anything in there. Wisdom Tooth was hoping that he had been able to thoroughly gain the trust of Shining Armor that morning.

* * *

They eventually made it to the palace and the same guards were posted outside the throne room as had been previously. They immediately recognized Wisdom Tooth and saluted him and his companions as he pushed his way through the double doors. He found that the room was basically empty aside from the pony that he had met before. The one that had not taken a liking to Wisdom Tooth.

When the pony turned to address them, Flash Sentry instantly threw up a salute, "Sir!"

The stern pony glared at him and then at Wisdom Tooth, "What's the meaning of this, private? These two are supposed to be in the archives."

Flash Sentry, still holding his salute, responded, "They were under my watch as they did their research but..."

Wisdom Tooth knew that they would not be able to get the permission that they needed from this pony so he decided to step in and find out where Princess Cadance and Shining Armor were, "But some progress has been made in our search and we must relay the information that we have uncovered to her majesty. I don't suppose you have the necessary ranking to know where we might find her?"

The General seemed to be very upset with Wisdom Tooth's tone, "The whereabouts of the Princess is on a need-to-know basis and you..."

Wisdom Tooth did not much care for this pony and had taken too insulting him at every given opportunity, "Do not need to know? While I'm sure you were awake at all hours of the night to have that particular phrase ready for me, if you were to pay any attention to what I just said you would see that I indeed need to know."

The General growled at Wisdom Tooth, as he could not think of anything to say in response. Brook Keeper and Flash Sentry both stood with their mouths gaping open in utter surprise that somepony had the guts to talk to the General like that. Before the General could try to think of something to say, the doors to the throne room were thrown open. Princess Cadance and Shining Armor walked in and seemed to be surprised to find so many ponies in the throne room without them.

Shining Armor saw that tensions were rising, "What's going on in here?"

The General made like he was about to say something but Wisdom Tooth knew that he was going to put them in a bad light so he made sure to be the first to talk, "Good evening, sir and madam. We just came to report some recent progress in my search."

Princess Cadance made her way to the throne while Shining Armor stood ready to receive the information, "Okay then, what have you got?"

Wisdom Tooth shot a quick smile to the General behind him that Shining Armor could not see before stating his business, "Well we went to the archives and debugged Zecora's riddle to find that she meant that the Pegasus I am looking for is actually underneath the city."

Shining Armor responded and Wisdom Tooth took note that the General stormed out of the room, "Well how can that be? There is no place for him to stay under the city?"

Before Wisdom Tooth could explain, Princess Cadance spoke up, "That's not necessarily true. There's the dungeon that Twilight found when she was searching for the crystal heart."

Wisdom Tooth explain further, "Exactly correct! We were able to find an old map that shows the dungeons that were used by King Sombra."

At this, Brooke Keeper took out the maps for him to see and he said, "and according to this, the only entrance is in this room."  
Princess Cadance spoke again, "That's right. Twilight showed me where it is and how to find it."

Wisdom Tooth was glad that he would not have to go searching for the entrance, "Might you be able to show us?"

Princess Cadance dawned a somber look, "Yes but I will need all ponies of the Crystal Empire to leave the room."

Wisdom Tooth was confused by this request, "May I ask why, Cadance?"

Princess Cadance walked down the stairs from her throne and rested her hoof on Brooke Keeper's head, "The magic that is necessary to reveal the entrance is the same magic that put these ponies under his control. If they witness its use, they will return to the state that they were in when we found them."

Wisdom Tooth nodded in understanding then looked to Brooke Keeper who said, "Well I'm a bit disappointed not to be able to see the dungeons, but I appreciated the opportunity to view the archives. I'll be going then."

With that, she bowed to the royal couple, waved goodbye to Wisdom Tooth, and took her leave.

One of the guards that were standing at the door said, "I will take my men and we will stay posted outside the room. If something happens, just yell for us."

They too exited.

Next, Shining Armor looked to Flash Sentry but he said, "I'm not native to the Crystal Empire. I was sent from Cloudsdale. With your permission, Sir, I'd like to accompany Wisdom Tooth on this mission."

Shining Armor smiled, patted him on the back, and said, "We're lucky to have you come with us."

Wisdom Tooth caught something in that statement, "We? No disrespect, Sir, but there is no need for Flash Sentry to come or yourself for that matter. I'm guessing that there will be dangers to face down there and I am the only one that is obligated to go."

Shining Armor looked serious, "I will not have you going down there by yourself. If I could, I would send you with a full platoon. But seeing as all the available soldiers are natives of this city, we'll have to do."

Wisdom Tooth bowed and said, "I adore your valor, Sir. We'd better get a move on."

Princess Cadance stepped forward and shot a dark, purple beam of magic into the center of the room, revealing a staircase, "Please do be careful down there. Twilight told me that there were magical traps that caused hallucinations down there. Keep your wits about you."

Shining Armor and Princess Cadance gently kissed each other before Shining Armor lead the march down the stairs.

* * *

On the way down the stairs, Wisdom Tooth pulled out the map and began to make notes in it as he held it in front of him with a simple levitation spell. He was no where near as good at magic as Lunar Knight but he was able to perform the simple spells. It was a very long stairway that was taking a very long time to traverse.

Eventually, Shining Armor inquired as to what it was that Wisdom Tooth was doing, "What's that?"

Wisdom Tooth continued writing, "It's a map of the cave system we are about to enter. We found it in the archives."

Shining Armor avoided commenting on the fact that they were not supposed to take anything from the archives and questioned further, "What are you writing?"

Wisdom Tooth still did not stop as he answered, "I am attempting to make educated assumptions as to where the best locations for traps might be. I am also trying to figure out where the best places to avoid these traps could be found. I've just finished so we should get out of this trap now."

Shining Armor stopped and asked, "What do you mean, 'This trap'?"

Wisdom Tooth pointed to the step at Shining Armor's hooves and said, "A while ago, I marked that step with my pencil because I suspected that a spell had been placed at the foot of the stairs that teleports us to the top of the stairs. I just hadn't said anything because I thought it might be beneficial to finish these notes on the map."

Shining Armor looked and saw that there was indeed a pencil mark on the step and said, "Well at least let me know next time. I can call for a halt if you need more time to do something."

Wisdom Tooth bowed and said, "My apologies, Sir. I'll be sure to alert you of anything that happens in the future."

Shining Armor's horn glowed and he shot a blast of energy down the stairwell. There was a flash of light and a door was revealed a little further down the stairs.

Before passing through the door, Shining Armor issued a few words of warning, "No be careful. Cadance warned us that there would be magic at play that would make us see hallucinations."

Wisdom Tooth was not worried. He had spent his life putting up mental defenses against any spells that enter his head. When he was seen as a monster among his people, there were many Changelings that tried to force him into captivity using magic or physical force. He had no choice but to keep up his defenses. His mental stability was so strong that it surpassed even Lunar Knight's abilities of insertion.

It became apparent that these abilities would prove useful as soon as they stepped over the threshold and into the hallway. As they entered, both Shining Armor and Flash Sentry began to stagger and slow down. Wisdom Tooth pushed past them and inspected Shining Armor's face. His eyelids were half closed and he was staring into space. This was obviously the effects of some hallucination spell. Just as he realized this, the two ponies collapsed to the ground. Wisdom Tooth knew that there would be nothing that he could do for them. Whatever they were facing inside their minds would have to be won by themselves. The only pony to have successfully aid somepony else in mental instability was Princess Luna herself.

Wisdom Tooth thought that he should look around to see what choices they would have when the two Pegasi woke from their slumber. The hallway that they had entered went two ways. Wisdom Tooth first went left. It did not go on for very long before he was met with an old oak door. Wisdom Tooth figured that he had better not open any doors when he was by himself so that he would not get caught in a trap with no help.

Wisdom Tooth turned around and passed his comrades as he checked the other side of the hallway. As he was going down the hallway, he saw a very large staircase. According to Twilight's accounts of her experience, this was the staircase that lead to the top chambers of the palace where the crystal heart had been hidden. When he continued further down the hallway, he found a pair of massive double doors. Wisdom Tooth decided that these would probably not be the doors to lead to some type of dungeon. The last option would be the old oak door that was in the other direction.

Wisdom Tooth, finding that there was nothing else that he could do in order to waste time, went to wait by his comrades until the awoke. He reached where he had left them but was terrified to find that they were no longer there. The thought crossed his mind that they had woken up and found that he was no longer with them so they went searching for him. He quickly dispelled this theory. If they had woken up and found that he was not there, they would have yelled his name at the very least. The way that hallway was set up, if they had yelled out, he would have heard them. Something must have happened to them. Wisdom Tooth was about to call out for them but he knew that, if he were to do so and somepony had taken them, then they would run off and he would not know what happened.  
Instead, Wisdom Tooth took off down the hallway that he had checked first. When he saw the door that he had seen earlier completely open. On the ground, there were drag marks in the dust indicating that this was indeed where somepony had taken his friends. Without a second thought, he rushed through the door.

Once through, he found himself in yet another hallway. But he did not have to guess which way to go this time. The tunnel was dark and there was no light aside from the feint glow to his left.

Without a moment's thought, he gave chase. With any luck, the pony that took his friends was not aware that he was even there and he would be able to catch them by surprise. He rounded a corner and saw the perpetrator. A cloaked pony but obviously a unicorn since his friends were covered in a green light and floating behind the figure.

Wisdom Tooth leaped into the air and charged the cloaked pony. It was true that he had caught them by surprise. Wisdom Tooth was able to knock him to the ground with ease.

The hood fell from the pony's head, revealing a familiar face, and the pony said, "Well, if it isn't my old summons... Terror Tooth."


End file.
